we are considering purchasing a 32 year old home that has regular wood siding on much of the second story. It has been patched in places but from the eye looks nice. It was painted most recently 8 - 10 years ago. During our engineers inspection he found some rot and they are willing to patch again but we feel like it should all be replaced. How long should siding last on a home? (generally) We would consider Hardy Plank but would also consider good quality wood as well. We can't get a price quote on either as we don't own the home but would consider a monetary compensation from the seller so we could do the work after we closed on the house. If the patch job is done, can we assume that we'd be good to go for a while or should we really insist that some sort of new siding be put up there...........

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First off, never assume anything. You should take some pictures and know the basic dimensions of the house. You could talk with some local contractors, armed with pics and dimensions and get some ballpark prices. New siding on an existing building can go $250 to $400 a square (10ft X 10ft), removal and replace.

Just because your inspector found some rot, don't expect the sellers to discount for an entire siding job. You can try for what ever you think you can get, but I bet your offer to buy contingencies won't cover that. Unless the inspector committed and said the siding was unserviceable, you will need to negotiate.

Wood siding can last 100 years if well maintained, but I have seen 20 year old siding that was junk. The type of wood, whether the wood was back primed when installed, and how often it was stained or painted will make a huge difference.

Although this is not in a pure sense a home improvement question, I could not stand to not answer this one. I am a home inspector and these questions come up all the time with my customers.